Community notebook: Special Olympians going to state

Several basketball teams from Clark County earned spots in the Special Olympics Washington Winter State Games, which will take place Feb. 27 to March 1 in Wenatchee.

The Sno Phantoms skiing and snowboarding team will also participate.

Four of 14 Clark County teams that participated in a regional tournament on Jan. 31 in Bremerton advanced to the state basketball tournament. Those teams are the Bobcats, Falcons, Panthers and Wizards.

Also qualifying for state was a Unified basketball team from Skyview High School, which took the gold medal at a Feb. 7 district tournament in Puyallup. Skyview players are: Nathanael Moore, Lauren Croft, Noah Narayan, Myron Williams, Adam Coyner, Ben Ritter, Dallon Zinszer, Chase Dodge, Cami Ottman, Sarah Cash, and Ashley Alder. The coaches are Brennan Young and Melissa Trammell.

A team of players from Hudson’s Bay and Fort Vancouver high schools won silver medals at that Unified basketball tournament. Playing for that team were: Ivana Angel, Rachelle Bonneville, Jordan Hickman, Matt Kerr, Gerry Navarro, Karen Nguyen, Daniel Barich, Joes Nava-Ruiz, Gage Marshall and Jeremiah Compton-Horton. The coaches were Owen Frasier, Carl Wigmer.

A team from La Center High School placed eighth at the Unified basketball tournament. La Center players were: Alex Steward, Blake Johnston, Moriah Howard, Hannalynn Wynn, Katie Lancaster, Zach Galster, Abby Storm, Howard Leroy, Prestin Thorn. The coaches were Brian Zylstra and Karla Karukes.

Special Olympics spring sports

Clark County Special Olympics Washington will hold a spring sports registration and information event on March 7 at Pied Piper Pizza, 12300 Fourth Plain Blvd.

Here is the schedule of sports meetings: 11 a.m. to noon, powerlifting; noon to 1:30 p.m., cycling; 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., track and field; 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., soccer; and 6 to 8 p.m., swimming.

Anyone interested in participating as an athlete (individual with intellectual disabilities), unified partner (individual without an intellectual disability), coach or volunteer is encouraged to attend the meeting for their sport of interest. There is no fee to participate in Special Olympics. The spring season runs from March 9 through May 31.

Local gymnasts shine at MAC Open

Seven gymnasts from Vancouver Elite Gymnastics Academy in Camas won all-around titles during the Multnomah Athletic Club Open, which took place Friday through Sunday in Portland.

Trace Jacquot won the boys all-around title among the most advanced gymnasts. Jacquot won the pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar gold medals on his way to the all-around title for boys ages 17-18. Ryan Dietzman of VEGA was second in that competition, winning on the floor exercise and the vault.

Two girls from VEGA were all-around champions in the Xcel Gold-level competition, helping their team to a first-place finish. April Brown was the all-around champion among girls ages 11-12. She finished first or tied for first in three of the four events. Julia Marsh was the all-around winner among girls ages 7-10, winning three of four events.

In the Diamond-level competition, VEGA gymnast Jacqueline Purwins won all four of her events to take the 14-and-older crown.

The VEGA girls Platinum-level team finished a close second in that team competition.

VEGA boys took first place in the team standings for Level 6 and Level 4, and placed fifth at level 5.

At Level 6, Nathaniel Davis was the all-around champion for boys 11 and older and Zachary Murray won the ages 9-10 all-around gold medal. At Level 4, Javier Naranjo tied for first place in all-around scoring.

A list of results for local gymnasts at the MAC Open is in the Community Sports Scoreboard.

COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. Submit items by email to paul.danzer@columbian.com, or call 360-735-4521.